Michael Akins

Michael Akins is a fictional character in DC Comics' Batman comics series. He is a man of African American descent who was chosen to succeed long-time Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon, who retired shortly after the end of the "No Man's Land" story arc. Michael Akins first appeared in Batman: Turning Points #5 and was created by Greg Rucka.

Fictional character biography

Akins is an honorable man, although living in Gotham has made him lose some of his innate idealism. He is also thorough enough in his crusade against crime so that he caused a controversy in his office when he worked with internal affairs Det. Raymond Wills to determine if GCPD Detective Harvey Bullock may have been responsible for the death of a man who shot and attempted to murder Gordon.

Akins dislikes the city's reliance on Batman, though sometimes he is forced to work with the Caped Crusader as needed. His initial reluctance to work with Batman originated from a past incident when a street vigilante, sanctioned by Akins during his days with the Gateway City police, botched the rescue attempt of a kidnapped child; Akins blamed himself for the result, in which both the vigilante and child were killed. Akins's tolerance of Batman was further strained during the "War Games" story arc, when Batman assumed control of the GCPD, causing heavy casualties to the police. As a result, Akins ordered the arrest of Batman, had the Bat-signal removed from the roof of GCPD's headquarters; Gotham Central, and declared all costumed vigilantes illegal.^[1]

It is not known if Akins has friendlier relations with other Gotham-based superheroes not working with Batman, such as Green Lantern (Alan Scott).

One Year Later, Akins is no longer Commissioner, with Gordon having resumed the position (And the GCPD's relations with Batman). Akins' reasons for leaving his job and his current whereabouts are unknown. It has been implied, however, that the recent problems with corruption faced by the department went all the way up to his office. Despite being referred to as Commissioner in an earlier issue of 52, which covers the gap between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later and a later issue having a brief shot a welcome back party thrown for Gordon, it was not revealed there what happened to Akins.

In the "DC Rebirth" reboot, Akins is reintroduced in Detective Comics as the new Mayor of Gotham city. In a statement he makes to the press, he announces while he has worked with Batman in the past, he and his administration are wary of the presence of Batman's team as a second police force. Batman visits Akins later that night where the mayor reveals that should the public learn that Clayface is now a member of Batman's team, the faith of the citizens in Batman will be put to the test.^[2]

References

External links

• Michael Akins at DC Comics Wiki